Fluid-pressure engine



jam 1, 1924;

L. P. HYNES ET AL FLULD PRESSURE ENGINE Filed Oct. 18 1918 5Sheets-Sheet Lee Pfiynes Q) [07 n W007i way Jan. 1, 1924 L. R; HYNES ET.AL

FLUID PRESSURE ENGINE Filed Oct. 18, 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Jam. 1 1924 L. P.HYNES ET AL.

FLUID PRESSURE ENGINE Jan. 1 1924 .L. P. HYNES ET AL FLUID PRESSUREENGINE v Filed Oct. 18, '5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Jamal 1w 1,4793%;

' L. P. HYNES ET AL.

FLU-ID PRESSURE ENGINE Filed Oct. 18 1918 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 fizverzfor'Ice 1? ifynczs' 3 1% Aliqriy- LEE P. HYNES'AND JOHN W. CONWAY, OFALBANY, NEW YORK, ASSIGNORS 'I'O CON- SOLIDATED CAB HEATING COMPANY, OFALBANY, NEW YORK, A

WEST VIRGINIA.

oonronarron' or FLUID-PRESSURE ENGINE.

Application filed October 18, 1918. Serial No. 258,704.

' Albany, in the county of Albany and tate of New York and JOHN W.CoNWAY, .a citizen of the nited States, residing at Albany, county ofAlbany, and State of New York, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in F luid-Pr'essur'e' Engines, the following being a full,clear, and exact disclosure of the one form of'our inventionwhich we atpresent deem preferable.

For a detailed description of thepresent form of our invention,reference may be had to the following specification and to theaccompanying drawings forming a part thereof wherein- Fig. 1 is a planand Fig. 2 a side elevation of 'our dBVlCG; Figs. 3 and 4 are sections;Fig. 5 is an end elevation;

Fig. 6 shows sections through the valves aiid through the control ductsrespectively; Figs. 7 and 8 are enlarged sections of the valvemechanism; j

Fig. 9 is a horizontal section on the lme 99 ofFig.7; r

Fig. 10 is a dia rammatic section; Figs. 11 to 15 s ow the different,positions of the cam-slide) that operates the valves;

Our invention relates to a fluid-pressure engine of the type frequentlyemployed in situations where the work is performed by single strokes,as, for instance, in the operation of a door, window or gate, either inclosing or opening. An engine of this type we designate herein by theexpression strokework engine. We have shown our invention applied to anengine of this type heretofore invented by John W. Conway. In the Conwayengine a single, double-acting-cylinder is employed, each endof thecylinder serving alternately for power-pressure and for checked-exhaustpressure, and provided with independent adjustment for thepower-pressure and the checking-pressure respectively whereby the enginecan be set for different rates of travel for its respective in and outstrokes. A given adjustment of the power at one end can be accompaniedby a corresponding adjustment of the checking at the opposite end, amore rapid travel requiring a stronger check, in order that the highrate separation and removal of travel may be maintained over the maximumrange and checked within the minimum range. In crowded urban railwaysthecapacity for thus speeding up theopenmg of'the car doors is ofpractical impor tance in expediting traflic, particularly when facture,and closed by end plates which may be readily applied withoutinterfering with r the pi ing.

, We also prefer to have those ducts t rough which the operatingpressure 11 engines of this ends for ease in manu-v enters the cylinderformed by grooves in the said end-plates, which grooves are covered oneone sideby the enlarged end of the cylinder to form ducts communicatingwith those in the said enlarged cylinder end, when the end-plates areapplied thereto."

We have provided certain other improveinents, one of which is anarrangement whereby the same parts may be used without change -foreither a right-hand or. a lefthand door, while another provides forready of the main shaft, gear wheel and door lever from the remainder ofthe structure. Other features of improvement wil and claimed. I v

Referring to Fi '1 of the drawing, A represents the cylinfer'which isformed as a single casting bored through from end to end with removableend-plates A A which 1 be hereinafter pointed out close the oppositeends of the bore. The internal arrangement is'showii in Figs. 3 and 10.Within the bore are two pistons B and B joined by a rack-rod B, theteeth of which engage the teeth of a gear wheel B on the transverseshaft Bf. Theshaft'B rests on half-bearings formed on the upper side ofcylinder-casting A, the upper halves of the bearings being formed in aremoyablecasting or cap A which also houses the top half of gear wheelBi" housing A which requires only the removal of the two screws a a, thesaid shaft B,

By simply lifting off the gear-wheel, the bracket E attached to theoor-lev'er, which in this case includes the sheath E and the lever bar Ethat slides in.

said sheath. On the other side of the gear wheel B the shaft carries theslide-operating fork B and the valve-operating yoke B both of which areseparable from the parts beneath so that the shaft B, together with saidfork and yoke, can be lifted out as aforesaid. Then, by removing one ofthe endplates A the pistons and their connecting rack-bar B can be drawnout of the cylinder. Thus the engine can be disassembled in a mostsimple way.

The automatic valves are contained in a separate casting G which isprovided on the side adjacent to the cylinder with a flat face adaptedto seat against a corresponding face on the cylinder casting A, atightjoint being maintained in any well-known manner. The ducts in thevalve casting terminate in openings on its aforesaid seating face whichalign with corresponding ductterminals in the seating face of the cvlinder, so that when the valve casting is screwed home against thecylinder the communication between the ducts in thetwo castings isprovided for. Plan and side views of the valve casting C are shown inFigs. 1 and 2 respectively, while a vertical section through the valvesin said casting is shown in Figs. 6 and, on a larger scale, in 7 In theu per part of the valve casting is a horizonta passageway or chamber 03which is closed at its right-hand end by a plug H and at its oppositeend receives the supply pipe H. Thus in chamber C there is at all timesa maintained pressure. On the floor of the said chamber G are twoopenings or ports forming the seats for the two conical admission valves1; and respectively which are normally pressed downward against the saidseats by springs bearing down on them from above asappears in Figs. 6, 7and 8. The ports controlled by the said admission valves lead downwardto corresponding ports controlled by the exhaust valves and 0"respectively. These exhaust ports are closed by the lifting of the valve0" orc which is concurrent With the opening of the admission valve 0 or6 since a .stem connects the valve (3 with valve and a similar stemconnects valve with valve 0*. In, the passages traversed by each stenrare ports 20, 20 which, as appears in Fig. 8, connect respectively withducts 21,.

Each of the ducts 2-1, 21 communicates with one end of the cylinderwhich therefore receives pressure from the chamber C aforesaid wheneverthe corresponding admission valve or c is lifted and opened, or, on theot er: hand, is connected to the exhaust whenever the correspondingexhaust valve 0 or 0* opened by being forced down. Of course theaforesaid connections are alternative, the opening of an admission valveon one side being accompanied by a closure of the corresponding exhaustvalve on the same side and vice-versa. The'space into which each exhaustpoit opens is connected to mosphere by the duct 30, which is in Fig. 8.To raise and lower the va there are provided two vertically-movingplnngers C and C which are hollow and contain each a helical spring 0(see Fig. 7) by which each plunger exerts a yielding pressure on thestem of the corresponding pairof valves. Each plunger when forced upwardcloses the exhaust and opens the admission valve of the pair of valveswhich that plunger controls. Then a plunger is allowed to drop down, thespring above its corresponding admission valve acts dowm wardly to closethe admission and open the exhaust valve. To operate the plungers C Cand their valves, we provide a l101'lZOI1--' tally sliding cam D (seeFigs. 6, T, 9) which has a cam surface (Z that lifts plunger C by movingto the left and a similar cam surface cl that lifts plunger C oy movingto the right. lVhen one of the plungcrs is thus lifted, a furthermovement of the slide moves a support-dog D" under the lifted plunger.The dog remains under the plunger and holds it in its lifted positionafter the slide has begun its reverse travel by virtue of a lost-motionconnection between the dog and the'slide. That connection allows theslide to make its initial movement to lift the plunger before moving thedog into its supporting position and, conversely, allows the slide tomake its re verse movement to withdraw the lifting cam surface beforemoving the dog back out of its supporting position. The removal of thedog from under the plunger permits the plunger todrop. In Fig. 9 a planof the cam-slide Dl and the support-dog D is shown, the slide beinglocated in a horizontal rectangular guideway formed in the bottom partof the valve-casting C. It is operated back and forth by the pistons G1and G acting alternately or by the pin (Z which projects from itsrearside and is straddled by the fork of lever B". The circumstances ofits operation will be described hereinafter. On the front of the slideis a rectangular recess in which is the supportdog D which is nearlysquare in contour and is engaged alternately by the shoulders (Z and dthat form the sides of the recess. The cam surfaces (Z and (l of theslide are formed on its upper surface and taken together are of the samelength as the recess that receives the dog. tion of the slide shown inFig. 7) the two 'plungers .0 and 2 bear on the top surface of the slidesone at either side of the camsurfa'ces d d Assuming that the slide movesto the left, in big. 7, the cam surface (P will come under plunger C andliftit, the dog D standing still until its righthand edge is hit by theshoulder d. Thena further movement'of. the slide will carry with it thedog which thus comes under the plunger C which has been previouslylifted by the cam. 'The parts will then be in the relation shown in Fig.11. The slide, in its retrograde travel to the right, will first move tothe position shown in Fig. 12, the dog, however, remaining in. itssupporting position under lunger C till the shoulder (Z comes againstthe left-hand edge of the dog. Then the slide and dog will move togetherto the position shown in Fig. 13, and, as the dog moves from underplunger C the plunger will drop suddenly, thereby opening the exhaustvalve and closin the admission valve which it controls. ey

can not continue their movement as screws 6 of lever B must be adjustedtocut 0d the air at the end of the .stroke of rack B.-

The movement up to ths point is due to the pressure of B Any furthermovement must come from the operator throwing the slide toward C Y p Theadvantage ofthe arrangement just described is that the cut-off action ofa valve does not follow the gradual movement of the piston but takesplace suddenly and completely whether it occurs automatically at the endof the piston stroke,

The engine-starting action ofthe valve by cams d, d is also rapid.

It is also possible to start the engine without compelling the'motormanto hold his startinglever or push button while the door is moving, andwithout keeping the air pres sure on, or the controlling circuit closedWhile the door is standing in either 'its open or closed position. Inengines now widely used, a reversal can be effected only at-the end ofthe door travel,-not at an intermedi.

The cam-slide above described is automatically brought back to itsintermediate or neutral position at the end of the engine In the neutralposior manually in j case a quick reversal'is made during a stroke.

stroke by means which we shall now explain, it being noted that in thesaid neutral position both'admission valves are closed and both exhaustvalves are open, no pressure being maintained on either end of thecylinder, and to restart in either direction, the slide, which has astand-pat action, remaining where it is put, must be moved further thanthe neutral positionby other means than the automatic means aforesaid.On the engine shaft B outside ofits hearings in the cylinder casting Aand the gear cap Afifis a U-shaped. yoke B (see Fig. 1) which is securedto and turns with the shaft, each leg of the U being bored to surroundthe shaft and locked thereto. Setween the two legs of the yoke there islo isely sleeved on the shaft the'upper end of" the slide 'operatingfork B. from the shaft with-its lower forked e d straddling the pin a!that projects from t e rear of the slide. '3 1e fork also has on eitherside just below its bearing sleeve-a lateral extension I) (see Fig. 8)with a set screw?) projecting upward therefrom" in. the path' of theyoke '13". In its neutral position the fork B han vertically, the] headsof the set screws 1 being on the'same level whichv is at thee'n'ds ofthe are described by the: yoke B Thus as the yoke moves to the endvofits travel it will, as the fork is :no tl'vertica'l, push one of thesetscrewsIb1-an'd bring the fork backitjo neutral. .For a succeedingreverse stroke of the engine'the slide must be moved gain; to open theadmission valve and close the, exhaust valve at the appropriate end ofthe cylinder. For this'purpose we provide: as; the preferable means twosmall 'pistonsG? and Gtabutting directly against 'thejends of the slide,These pistons will beicontrolled in inost cases'tfromsomedistant"point,Jeither'gpneumatically or electrically, in well knownways.1 4 As a matter of illustration werhave' indicated in-Fig. 1 a manualcontrol valve that will-admit pressure to eitherone of the pistons G Gras may be desired according to the direction in which the valve handleis turned. It should be noted that itrequires only a inoment'ary actionof the handle of-valve K' to throw the piston G or G and the engine willthen proceed to-make' a complete stroke although the handle of valve Kis immedi- 'ately brought back to its intermediate or cutoif position.Moreover, the valve K will still be effective to reverse the engine atany point of the engine stroke. For instance, the engine may have juststarted to close the door'and then may be immediately reversed to reopenthe door by an opposite and momentary movement of the valve K. Thatresult is due to the dead or stand-pat nature of the valve operation;the cam-slide remains wherever it may be set and dominates thespringwhich tends to close the admission t This fork hangs down 'aforesaid,communicate respectively with to duct 23,

the two admission valves by ducts 20 and.

20 (Figs. 7 and 8). The pressure flow, shown in the diagram Fig. 10 bysingleba'rbed arrows, proceeds (referring to the left-hand end of Fig.10) from duct 21 by the adjustable needle-valve 41 to a short duct andthence by ball check-valve 51 from which it passes to the end which isformed of the cylinder by duct 2% The bv a radial groove in the endplate A .wall of the cylinder is made thicker at each end to receive theparallel ducts 22 and 23. The needle-valve a1 is the adjuster of thepower pressure and determines the rate of travel of the piston from leftto right, independently of its rate of travel from right to left, thelatter rate being determined independently by the correspondingneedlevalvc ll at the other end of the" cylinder. The exhaust startsfrom a. port in the side of the cylinder, which is formediby three smallholes, and which is covered by the piston 13 as it approaches the end ofits leftward stroke The course of the exhaust from port O is indicatedin Fig. by triple-barbed arrows; it goes by the duct 29 to the ballcheck-valve 52, to duct 28, to duct 21 which is now connected to theatmosphere at valve 0.- In this route there is noohstruction and. asheretofore explained,

the exhaust valve (1 has been suddenly thrown wide open by the droppingplunger C from the dog D. That gives a free exhaust which permits thequick start and acceleration of the piston and permits the high rate ofpiston travel to be maintained as long as possible before being.

checked. The checking is initiated by the piston passing the port 0,which is composed of a number of small openings to avoid cutting of theleather packing of the piston. Port 0 being passedthe exhaust mustfollow a. different course which is indicated in Fig. 10 bydouble-barbed arrows. It follows back along radial duct Ql to duct 23,to the needle-valve 42, to duct 22,]to needle-valve 41 (which althoughacting as an adjustable restriction for the power current is too largeto oli'er any material resistance to the choked exhaust) and then goesby way of ducts 21 and to the now open exhaust valve 0 In closing thischecking does not take place until the door until the end of thepislever is approaching its dead center relation to the door whichrelation is depended on to lock the door in its closed position. Thusthe greater part of the door travel is at high speed and the checkingcauses no material delay.

There is also a duct 27 extending from end to end of the cylinder on theside opposite the main supply duct 21, 21. At its ends this duct 27communicates with short ducts 26 and 26. At the right this communicationis through a ball check-valve 53 while at the left it is free, the plug53 being there inserted in the hole through which, in case of a reversalof the relation of the engine to the door, the check-valve 53 can be insorted. The short ducts 26 and 26 are connected to the ends of thepiston chamber by ducts and 25 formed as radial grooves in the endplates A like the grooves 24 and 24?. The purpose of this arrangement isto relieve such excess pressure as might accumulate in the left-hand endof the cylinder when the closure of the door is prevented by anobstruction. In that case the pressure gradually working through theneedle-valve ll would, if not released, gradually build up until itbecame as great inside the cylinder as it is in the source of supply.Since, in order to provide for power adjustment by the said needle-valve41, the engine must be adapted to work normally at a pressure lowerthanthe supply source, it would therefore have an abnormal pressure in thede-' scribed emergency, if it were not for the relief afforded by duct27. and the checkvalve' 53 The spring of the said checkvalve will beadjusted to yield when the pressure exceeds a predetermined maximum andallow the excess to blow over into the opposite endof the cylinder.

lnl igs. l and 2' the engine is shown applied to a left-hand door-i. 0.,a door which closes from left to rightand the flat bar E of thedoorlever is-connected by means of a horizontal pin F) to a slide Ffwhich travels on the vertical rod F attached to the door F. The slide Eis also a grease box and is provided with two grease-ports c, c at topand bottom so that the latter part can be used with a right-hand door.In order to apply the engine to a right-hand door, it is only necessaryto lift out the shaft B", together with the gear wheel and otherappurtenances as heretofore described, and remove the pin E that joinsthe lever arm to the door. Then by sliding the pistons to the oppositeend of the cylinder and replacing the shaft with the door lever pointingto the left instead of to the right, the engine will be ready foroperating the right-hand door, the relief valve 53* being also shiftedas heretofore explained. This change involves no new or differentlyshaped parts,

but the apparatus remains the same with a mere shift in the relation ofthose parts. The shaft 13* may be provided with a handle B for use inthe event of the door bein locked by the dead-centering of the doorlever, as shown in Fig. 2, at a time when no pressure is. available forworking the engine. Then the door may be opened by means of the handle13.

In resetting the engine to change it for right or left hand operation,it should be remembered that the extreme angular posi tion of theradial, load-operating arm will be different for the two conditions.Thus if a door, for example, closes towards the right, the arm will cometo a horizontal position when the door is closed, but to someinclinedposition when the door is opened. Hence to use the enginereversely there must be a resetting of the gear relation between theshaft and the pistons. Moreover, if the arm is not radially straighti.e.,'lying in one radial plane, the difiiculty is greatly increased. Bymeans of the separability above described it is easy to change theposition of the gear wheel on the rack. to fit either the right-hand orthe left-hand conditions. Furthermore, a readjustment is required in therelation of the shaft to the valves in order that the latter may stillbe operated at the end of the stroke. For this purpose the yoke B ismade adjustable around the shaft so that it may be set in the desiredposition ,to work the valve-actuator B at the proper point in its arc oftravel.

What we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A stroke-work engine comprising a double-acting cylinder, independentadjusters for the pressure-flow and the checking flow at each end of thecylinder, two sets of spring-actuated valves one set for each end of thecylinder, a manually controlled valveoperator acting to lift each set ofvalves against the force of its springs, and means to automaticallyrelease a lifted valve-set at the end of the stroke. i

2. A stroke-work engine comprising a double-acting cylinder, providedwith chambers at each end, two manually controlled valves for connectingsaid chambers alternately to exhaust and supply, a check valve and twoflow adjusters between each cham her and the interior of the cylinder,and means for automatically bringing each of said valves to a neutralposition for closing the admission and opening the exhaust at the end ofthe engine stroke.

3. A stroke-work engine, comprising a double-acting cylinder provided ateach end with a chamber, a check-valve and an ad juster for both thesupply and the checking flow between each chamber and the interior ofthe cylinder, separate admission and exhaust valves for each end of thecylinder for connecting said chambers to the supply and -pistonstherein,

actuated valves therefor, separated pistons therein, a shaft'geared tosaid pistons, a radial load-operating arm on said shaft, a

mechanical valve-releasing device actuated by said shaft at each end ofits travel, and a manually controlled starter for lifting either set ofvalves to start the engine after an actuation of said valve-releasingdevice.

v 5. A stroke work engine comprising a double-acting cylinder, two setsof springactuated valves therefor, therein, a shaft geared to saidpistons,.'a radial load-operating arm on said shaft, a mechanicallost-motion valve-releasing de-' vice operated by said'shaft, and amanually controlled starter for lifting either set of valves in the lostmotion space after an actu ation of said valvereleasing: device.

6. A stroke-worlo engine comprising a double-actin cylinder, two sets ofspring actuated va ves therefor separated pistons therein, a transverseshaft geared to said at a point between them, a radial load-operatingarmon said shaft, a valvereleasing device, and a manually-controlledstarter acting toset said device for a reverse stroke of the engine. I

7. In a double-acting fluid-pressure en ine, a spring-actuated valvefor-each end of the separated pistons cylinder, a cam forlifting saidvalves al-- I ternately,a locking dog for the valves mod ing in a recessin said cam, but having lostmotion with respect thereto, and automaticmeans for unlocking one' valve without lifting the other.

8. In a double-acting, fluid-pressure en gine, a cylinder, a pistontherein, a shaft geared to said piston, a valve-actuator loosely sleevedon said shaft, means for operating said actuator by the shaft as thepiston approaches the end of its stroke, amanuallycontrolledreciprocator for setting said valve 'to produce asucceeding stroke, and a lock for the valve having a lost-motionrelation to said actuator.

9. A double-acting, fluid-pressure engine comprising a cylinder,separated pistons a transverse shaft in split hearings on said cylinderand geared to said pistons, a radial load-operating arm on said shaft, avalve actuator worked by said shaft, the shaft together with said armand said actuator being separable from the cylinder and from the valvemechanism.

10. A fluid-pressure engine comprising a double-acting cylinder, 3,piston therein a removable shaft on said cylinder, a gear wheel on theshaft and geared to said piston,

nae

a housing for said gear wheel, a radial loadoperating arm on said shaft,and valve-op- 4 erating means also on the said shaft and refrom the rackand p stons and reversible in relation thereto for different extremepositions of the arm, a valve for the engine operated by the shaftand anadjustable connection between said valve and sl ft.

12. A double-acting fluid-pressure engine comprising a cylinder, apiston therein, a shaft having a rack and gear connection with the saidpiston, a straight radial loadoperating arm on the shaft, said shaft andarm being separable from and ad ustable in relation to said pistomand avalve and an adjustable operating connection between said valve and thepiston, said connection being operative at the end of the stroke of thepiston.

13. A doubleaetin ',fluid-pressure engine comprising a cylint er,separated pistons therein with an intermediate rack, a transverse shaftmounted in split bearings, a gear on said shaft engaging said rack andremovable therefrom, a radial load-operating arm'on said shaft,admission and exhaust valves for each end of the cylinder, and anadjustable aetuator on said shaft for operating said valves at each endof the engine stroke,

Signed at Albany, county of Albany, and

State of New York, this 12th day of October,

LEE 1. HYNES. JOHN W. CONWX.

